THE MAJOR MUSICAL KEYS

I must thank David J Abbott for providing this mnemonic for remembering the Major Keys and his version is published here in its entirety.

Sharps (#)

Gorillas Don't All Eat Bananas From Choice

Flats (b)

Foreign Bananas Eat All Dat Gorillas Can't

Major keys

Most musicians will know that a piece of music with no sharps or flats in the key signature is in the key of C major. Many people are much less sure with other key signatures ! The two Mnemonics shown above work as follows :-

Key signatures with sharps (#)

1 sharp = G major, the notes that are sharpened are F

2 sharps = D major, the notes that are sharpened are F, C

3 sharps = A major, the notes that are sharpened are F, C, G

4 sharps = E major, the notes that are sharpened are F, C, G, D

5 sharps = B major, the notes that are sharpened are F, C, G, D, A

6 sharps = F# major, the notes that are sharpened are F, C, G, D, A, E

(hence F# major not F major)

7 sharps = C# major, the notes that are sharpened are F, C, G, D, A, E, B

(hence C# major not C major)

Key signatures with flats (b)

1 flat = F major, the notes that are flattened are B

2 flats = Bb major, the notes that are flattened are B, E

(hence Bb major not B major)

3 flats = Eb major, the notes that are flattened are B, E, A

(hence Eb major not E major)

4 flats = Ab major, the notes that are flattened are B, E, A, D

(hence Ab major not A major)

5 flats = Db major, the notes that are flattened are B, E, A, D, G

(hence Db major not D major)

6 flats = Gb major, the notes that are flattened are B, E, A, D, G, C

(hence Gb major not G major)

7 flats = Cb major, the notes that are flattened are B, E, A, D, G, C, F

(hence Cb major not C major)

By using the two start points (i.e. the first word and the # or b symbol then all major key signatures can be identified and created. The minor keys can also be derived from their relative majors (minor key = minor 3rd (3 semitones) below the relative major, e.g. A minor shares the same key signature as C major ). Incidentally, you can get away with learning just one Mnemonic since each is the reverse of the other if you add the missing C major onto the start of each. This also avoids the rather dubious spelling of "That" in the second mnemonic !

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